Western Canada Oil & Gas benchmarking report

Juniors and intermediates

Bigger has often meant better in the energy industry in Western Canada, but challenging times are affecting every size of producer these days, as depressed commodity prices, slow infrastructure growth and reduced share values hamper progress. So how are the smaller E&P companies coping? In certain instances, the existence of prevailing business conditions has delayed the planned exit strategies of several junior oil companies from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. Where these companies were once the driving forces of the Canadian industry, they are now the ones being driven.

Correctly measuring and tracking your company’s performance is imperative. Understanding where you stand in the market and how you measure up against your competitors allows companies to make the necessary changes and improvements to succeed.

So, how do companies do this? It has long been recognized that by comparing company measurements to operational benchmarks, a company’s progress can be evaluated by monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs) important to successfully achieving an organization’s goals.

Most benchmarking studies undertaken in the oil and gas industry focus on the larger, global or complex companies — the independents, major and supermajors.

Smaller juniors and intermediates here in Western Canada are not well served by these studies to assist them to efficiently manage their businesses and operations on an ongoing basis. PwC has attempted to address this imbalance in benchmarking for junior and intermediate companies by presenting our benchmarking survey, which looks at performance for this particular sector among public companies in the industry.